A Small Feathered Friend

Most of the time, I don't blog until I have an idea I can't wait to unleash from my mind into written form.  But I need to push my creative limits.  So I'm writing up a little lighthearted article to see if something beautiful will come without the normal build-up.  This is a little tale about a friend of mine - a bird.

A few years' ago, it suddenly became popular to have these tiny birds as pets.  As with most trends, I balked at the idea of getting one myself.  I didn't need such a pet, and I wasn't about to be labeled as one who jumped on the band wagon.  But little by little, I began to see the value of those little birds.  They weren't simply cute pets.  They were amazing messengers.  I observed how people could tie tiny messages to their legs and deliver them very quickly and efficiently to their friends, even in far off places.  So it was on January 1st, 2009, I got myself one of these tiny birds.  And as it crawled up my fingers with eager eyes awaiting my first message, I knew this was going to be something special.

I appreciated that bird more and more each day.  Somehow, he was able to go with me wherever I went but never make his presence felt.  Anytime I wanted to get a message out to my friends, he was a tweet away, fluttering with excitement over what I would share with everyone.  As such, more and more of my friends wanted to receive the messages I sent through him.  He was very picky about the size of the message, though.  I had to keep it brief, otherwise he could not carry it.  While I found this a nuisance at first, I came to appreciate the creativity it forced upon me.  I needed to make messages more meaningful with fewer words.  In time, he became more creative as well.  Quite often, I would hear a song I longed to share with others, but it would be far too large to give to my small companion.  He began to memorize a short portion of the song to sing along with my message.  I enjoyed the responses I would get sometimes from those musical notes.  

Best of all, this little friend of mine would give me the opportunity to send a message of praise or thanks to God Himself.  Those have always been the messages for which his feathers have been sent a-fluttering.  And when I would come across a thought or a prayer that I felt my friends ought to hear, this little bird would zip out even faster than normal for the joy of sharing those golden nuggets of truth and light from the Father of them.

I can barely imagine life without that little bird now.  I'm so pleased to have him on my journey of grace.